Thursday, October 6, 2011

NWG 2011 - Game 5 - Elegies

So as I said in my last post, I would be paired up with Jason once again for round 5, and a second change at Draigo. This time we were playing Dawn of War Annihilation, meaning that the ball was going to be in his court, having only 9KP to my 14KP. That being said, with a vast shooting advantage over Jason, I figured if I can take out the Vindicare and at least Immobolise the vehicles early I could run away and hide for a win while picking him off from afar. After seeing the terrain I was doubly sure I could pull this. Just as a reminder, Jason's army can be found here.

Jason got the roll for sides this time and took the side with the ruined building in the middle. The rest of the table was a mess of dangerous rocks with one statue to the west. He deployed his Purifiers in their Razorback which was in the building. I deployed a unit of Purifiers and the OXI in their Razorback hidden behind a rock. I didn't bother trying to steal initiative as going second further buffed my shooting advantage, if only by a small amount.

Jason gave the Purifiers and both units of Paladins counter attack using Grand Strategy.

Turn 1

The Vindicare came on near the Purifiers and ran to a good position on the first floor of the ruin while the Storm Raven swooped in east, staying back so as not to easily give me LOS. Then hilarity ensued as the Land Raider immobolised itself on the terrain as it came on.

I moved a Dread, the Land Raider, the Vindicare and the Ven Dread on centrally to tackle the opponent head on, moving Crowe in behind the Dread. The other Dread and Razorbacks came on in the West to maintain a range superiority over Jason's army. The plan was to slowly swing west as I started doing damage. The OXI's ride moved up to affirm its position behind the terrain, out of LOS. The Dreads tried to spot the Storm Raven but failed.

Turn 2

The Storm Raven moved around the rocks and shot both Multi-Melta and Assault Cannon at the Land Raider to no avail. The Vindicare lined up on the Dread in the middle but missed even with the re-roll for BS8. The Land Raider tried its hand at my own but failed to penetrate.

I kept to minimal movement this turn, advancing the western forces a bit and redeploying the other Dread.

I started out small firing single Lascannons at the Vindicare, however I got lucky and the first one insta-killed him. The remaining Lasback and the Dread with it managed to immobolise the Razorback. Everything else opened up on the Storm Raven, immobolising it and destroying the Multi-Melta, the Assault Cannon, and one Mindstrike Missile, as well as shaking it.. Phase 1 of the plan was complete.

Turn 3-4

With no movement the Draigo-wing started shooting. The Land Raider failed to take my Land Raider again, however the Razorback managed to pop one of my Dread's Autocannons. The Storm Raven failed Fortitude so couldn't shoot.

The now damaged Dread continued its move as the army opened up. Though the Land Raider came out unscathed, and the Storm Raven survived another salvo only losing another Mindstrike, the Razorback was wrecked and the Purifiers were forced to bail out.

Both units of Paladins disembarked on turn 4, with the Land Raider ones moving forward and Immobolising the damaged Dread who was now blocking up my planned escape route should I need to run west. Draigos unit on the other hand ran over the terrain and tried unsuccessfully to pop the OXI's Razorback. The Purifiers moved up to the first floor of the ruins as the Land Raider split fire on my Land Raider and Ven Dread, destroying a weapon from the latter.

At this point I needed to start moving west and with my planned route blocked I would have to go the dangerous route. The Ven Dread moved up next to the Vindicare as the Land Raider backed off 6". Narrowly escaping the Paladin's attack last turn the OXI turned his Razorback around and high-tailed it.

The Vindicare tried to pop the Libby this turn but failed. The LasPlasbacks killed off a Paladin while their accompanying Dread popped a Hurricane Bolter from the Storm Raven. The immobolised Dread and Ven Dread failed to do any damage and the Land Raider managed to destroy one of the Lascannons from his Land Raider.

Turn 5

Jason needed to pull out something in this turn as he was down 2-0 in KP and the game could easily end. Draigo and co. moved toward my army more as did the other Paladins. The Paladins and Purifiers opened up on the Dread trying to take it out with Psycannons but failed, equally as Draigo's unit failed to slow down the OXI's Razorback with S5 Storm Bolter fire. However some luck shone as the Land Raider wrecked mine with a single Lascannon shot.

The OXI was forced to take a risk to survive here and drove over the Land Raider's wreck, luckily without a scratch. The disembarked Terminators movd through the gully behind Crowe shooting unsuccessfully back as they went.

Seeing little chance at getting the Paladins or Purifiers this turn I turned all my attention on the Storm Raven, bar the Vindicare who successfully popped the Librarian this time. The hail of fire from everything else also managed to finally take out the severly crippled Storm Raven.

And with that, the game ended, with everything important going to plan pretty much.

Conclusions

There's not a whole lot to say here, the plan worked. I think Jason made one mistake in not taking the Paladins out onto the field on turn 3, or Draigo's unit at least. Running away a turn earlier would have made it harder for me to focus my fire where I wanted it.

I managed to get a 16-4 win out of this one, with only 10VPs short of the 17-3. However despite this I walked surprised up to the leaderboard before the awards to see myself in 5th place overall. If anything, the weekend was a success, and I learned a lot about playing the army.

Found a picture taken by someone during the game. Seems there was two flatter pieces of terrain I forgot to put in my maps, but since nobody crossed them it didn't really matter.

Orks won the event, with my Dark Eldar opponent from game 3 coming second, and CSM coming third. Fourth place was won by Blood Angels who were on the same BP as me but pushed ahead on VP totals.

Overall, I can't complain, and I look forward to playing Conclave in two weeks time. Keep an eye out for reports then. Cheers.